Improvement in the rifling of guns



JJB. ATW ATER.

Rflng Fire-Arms. No. 36,592.

Patented Sepe. so, 1862.

UNirEE STATES JOHN B. ATWATER, OF RIPON, VISOONSIN.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE RIFLING OF GUNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,592, dated September 3 0, 1862.

T0 all whom, zz': may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. ATWATER, of Ripon, in the county 0f Fond du Lac and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Riding Guns; and I hereby declare that the following is a true and eXact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The distinctive feature of my invention is the enlarging the bore of the gun7 or the sectional lines of it, for the distance of about eleven diameters of the caliber from the breech, and extending` the enlargement to the muzzle. This is done by cutting` out two-thirds of each land, commencing and ending at the point above specified.

In the drawings annexed, Figure l exhibits a longitudinal section of the barrel of my gun. The letter A represents the entire land, and B the point at which the land is reduced to onethird ot' its original size. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections ofthe barrel, Fig. 2 being a lsection near the breech,where the lands are of full width, and Fig. 3 a section near the muzzle, representing the lands reduced, o c c being the rider, and d d d the lands.

The immediate object of my invention is to prevent the packing of the air between the muzzle and the point at which the lands are cut away; but another great advantage is to reduce friction in the passage of the ball through the barrel without impairing its spiral motion. Equal penetration, perhaps, may be obtained by the same arrangement somewhat modied-first, by altering the mechanical construction ot' the bore by cutting slots through the barrel, asin the De Behame gun; but this process weakens the barrel, so that -what is gained in penetration is lost in the element of strength; second, by cutting out all the lands at about the center of the barrel. In this you lose the spiral motion of the ball,and are merely carrying out my principle to an extreme. Another' mode is by cutting deep grooves through the lands lengthwise of the gun.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

rllhe cutting out twothirds of each land, in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.

JOHN B. ATVVATER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES ALEXANDER, A. A. YEATMAN. 

